A new Google My Business (GMB) feature is now being tested that will communicate when a new business will be opening its doors.
A new business can specify the date of its future opening, and in turn, Google will show that listing in the local panel with when the business is opening.
The Google test was confirmed by Damian Rollison from Brandify with his Google Representative and shared a screen shot from his blog:
Google added a line that reads”Open Wed Sep 12″ in the above image in orange in the local knowledge panel.
Once opened, a “recently opened” label will appear, which isn’t a new feature:
According to Damian, “It’s simple enough to supply Google with opening dates for new locations. This can be done by making use of the “open date” field — but for now you can only enter future dates manually in the GMB dashboard. Just how far in the future you can list a new location is still to be determined. And because this is a limited pilot, there’s no guarantee yet that your brand’s listings will qualify for advance publication.”